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TMBC Cancelled 2/21

Fellow Endorphin Junkies:

The weather today through tomorrow is pretty miserable, with snow, sleet, ice, wintery mix, and rain today and overnight, with early morning freezing/near-freezing, so that the chances of either Yorktown or W&L being safe enough to run on tomorrow are so unlikely that Coach Rich and I have decided to cancel tomorrow's formal practice.

If we had to miss a formal practice, however, this is not a bad one to miss. Many of you will be running the Club Challenge 10 Miler this weekend, and with the hills and length and runner challenges it offers, missing a hard workout is not a bad thing three days prior to such a race. Moreover, tomorrow's workout was our familiar 2 x 15:00 Tempo runs with a 2:30 rest in between, and that is one of the easiest to transfer to SAFE roads near your home, which are much more likely to be clear than either track.

So, if you are running the Club Challenge 10 Miler, enjoy the extra day of rest – perhaps it will lead to a course PR. If you feel compelled to run tomorrow, you can easily do this one by yourself on SAFE roads, with a good warm-up/warm down.

Accordingly, the Thursday Morning DCRRC Track Practice in Arlington is CANCELLED.

February 21, 2019 – Formal Practice Cancelled – if you can find Safe streets, 2 x 15:00 of Tempo with 2:30 rest in between can be done on your own

Water breaks are important ALL year round, even in this kind of weather, so remember to hydrate before, during and after your runs.

In club news from Coach Rich ...

Congrats to Christine Westcott winning the Club's George Washington's Birthday Marathon in 3:19. It was a sprint to the finish against the Number 2 finisher thanks to Christine having to make 3 bio breaks along the way. This is an incredibly difficult course and another amazing accomplishment for Christine.

The club challenge 10M is this Sunday the 24th but registration is closed – good luck registered runners! The DCRRC Happy Hour is next Thursday night February 21, details on the website http://dcroadrunners.org. I look forward to seeing many of you there.

ANOTHER BIG REQUEST FOR TMBC ... Our annual DCRRC Banquet is on Sunday night March 3. This is a great time with great friends and great food. We honor our 2018 club award winners and this year like the past there is great representation from Thursday morning receiving awards: Liz Ozeki - Most Improved Female, Paul Ryan - Male Masters Runner of the Year, Christine Westcott - Female Masters Runner of the Year. Please come out to this event and cheer on these amongst and all our clubs winners, as registration numbers are low to date. Dinner is only $20, and it is a quite good family-style Italian, and a great speaker, so please sign up. Here is the link to register: https://www.dcroadrunners.org/sign-up/banquet

Coach Big Guy will be in Austin and able to do the workout there (60 degrees!), but Coach Rich is still recovering from surgery, so you are on your own tomorrow and a warm bed and a day off will serve many of you well!

6 to 8 x 800m in 5k/Yasso Pace, 400m rest

Fellow Endorphin Junkies:

The weather tomorrow will be just a bit colder than last week with Temps at 29 degrees but lower humidity at 69%, with little wind at 3 MPH, but still, remember to bring fluids! More Importantly – HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY to each and every one of you!

Accordingly, the Thursday Morning DCRRC Track Practice in Arlington will begin at the Yorktown High School track tomorrow at 6:00 AM sharp, with announcements before 6 - so please get there early to warm up. Workout as follows:

Valentine's Day - February 14, 2019 - 6 to 8 x 800m at 5K ("interval")/Yasso Pace, w/400m easy jogs in between

Water breaks are important ALL year round, especially when it very humid like tomorrow, so remember to hydrate before, during and after your runs – tomorrow after each interval!

NOTE: I expect to see your heart rates in the High 80% of Maximum range, but if your rates are higher, you need to slow down!

Stallions: 5:45 to 6:15 Pace, 8 Intervals

Wolf Pack: 6:15 to 6:45 Pace, 7 to 8 Intervals

Gazelles: 6:45 to 7:30 Pace, 6 to 7 Intervals

Coyotes/MTP Trainees: 7:30 to 10:30 Pace, 6 Intervals

This week's workout is a tough speed workout - essentially running a 5k, or a 5k plus another 1000 or so, so it will be a challenge, and luckily we have decent weather. A note on Pace – I prefer you run Yasso 800's, which means your pace for the 800 should your goal time in the marathon but hours become minutes and minutes seconds - e.g. if you want to run a three-hour fifteen-minute marathon, you should run a 3 minute fifteen second 800. More importantly, your rest interval of 400m should be in the exact same time – NOT faster – I'm looking at you, Rodrigo! ;-) Since you will be going fairly all-out, be especially focused on good form - up on your toes, knees lifting, core sill, slight lean, eyes forward, and perhaps most importantly, hands at your side to help smoothly lift your knees - no crossing over or chicken wings. Also, no fists (imagine Pringles or an egg in your hand and you don't want to crush them)!

In club news from Coach Rich ...

Some really great racing results from this past weekend and in some pretty cold weather to boot.

At the Algonquin 50K, Liz Ozeki ran her first ultra in a time of 4:23:22. This was good for 1st OAF, 4th OA in the race and a new Women's Course Record! This is a trail race. Liz said she was "slightly traumatized by the sand, mud pits, knee-deep water, and more sand, but I didn't get lost and I only fell once". Holy Moly Liz. Just a phenomenal effort. We are all so proud of you. Just great work.

Langley 8K

30:51 - Rodrigo Vellon, 1st 25-29
31:39 - Christie Wetzel, 1st OAF
33:22 - Andrew Simpson
33:49 - Chris Walsh, 2nd 25-29
35:54 - Melinda Metz, 1st 40-44
35:59 - Shauna Waite, 2nd 30-34
37:37 - Kevin Cunningham
38:32 - Yuko Takakusaki, 1st 50-54
45:04 - Elizabeth Humphrey, 2nd 55-59

The GW Birthday Marathon is February 17th, and still needs volunteers. Please consider this and contact Raj@dcroadrunners.org if you can help. I will be at the finish line with a hot fire roaring all day long. Last call for the club challenge 10M: It's on the 24th and registration closes this Saturday – please sign up on the website. The DCRRC Happy Hour is Thursday night February 21, details on the website http://dcroadrunners.org, I look forward to seeing many of you there.

BIG REQUEST FOR TMBC ... Our annual DCRRC Banquet is on Sunday night March 3. This is a great time with great friends and great food. We honor our 2018 club award winners and this year like the past there is great representation from Thursday morning receiving awards: Liz Ozeki - Most Improved Female, Paul Ryan - Male Masters Runner of the Year, Christine Westcott - Female Masters Runner of the Year. Please come out to this event and cheer on these amongst and all our clubs winners. Here is the link to register: https://www.dcroadrunners.org/sign-up/banquet

Coach Big Guy will be at practice tomorrow but Coach Rich is still recovering from surgery.